Pretty low key around here, but I picked up some nice used cd's at the music store on Christmas eve:

David Parsons- Dorje Ling: This is my favorite David Parsons that I've heard, very deep and powerful textures. Makes good use of Tibetan chanting throughout. Parsons' sound reminds me a little bit of Michael Stearns in a way. It's macrocosmic ambient music- dramatic at times but always broad and far-reaching. Dorje Ling makes me want to go hiking in mountains.

Robert Rich -Inner Landscapes: A little bleak, but not altogether dark ambient though it would make a good companion to an album like Stalker in the cd changer. Some sort of prehistoric horn-like groans in the first track set the tone for what followed.

Bill Binkelman

The new one from Telomere, The Stellar Sea. Yet another soaring floating majestic slice of classic spacemusic played on the mighty Serge and other synths, Chris MacDonald may not be the most prolific artist out there (this is his third release in, I think, 10 years) but if you like old-fashioned spacemusic, a la Stearns, Braheny and demby, he's your best bet, IMO. Probably is unbelievably cool listening on 'phones late at night while stargazing.

Pavement, "Slanted & Inchanted". Classic, simply classic. Sloppy, tight, clear, muddy rock-n-roll. One of the best albums of the 90's, by FAR.Unrest, "Cath Carroll" promo EP. Well worth the price of admission for "Hydro", a 30+ minute jam that never lets up. One of the great lost bands of the nineties, IMO.Alio Die, "Hidden Spring". Nice; very murky and foggy, I tried to crank this but it just refuses to be "present"; like a ghost of an album, barely out of reach.Lost in Translation, "Domestic Bliss". Saw this guy live back in the 90's, reminded me of Rapoon. This CD reminds me that I need to do my laundry. Oh, and shovel my walk...

Logged

I wish I was a Glowworm; a Glowworm's never glum. 'Cause how can you be grumpy, when the sun shines out your bum?

Great to hear about the new Telomere album, Bill. I enjoyed the first two very much, though they are very similar sounding. Kind of what I imagined Michael Stearns would be doing if he hadn't gone into soundtrack work.

I've been enjoying a piano trio double album this week from Alan Pasqua called "Live At Rocco" that features the very nimble Peter Erskine on drums.

Rapoon - Ice Whisperswell, a very fine piece ..... the mid section kind of reminds me of something aidan baker could have done .....there is only one negative fact with the whole cd ..... i think he used this "pan effect" a bit to much

The new one from Telomere, The Stellar Sea. Yet another soaring floating majestic slice of classic spacemusic played on the mighty Serge and other synths, Chris MacDonald may not be the most prolific artist out there (this is his third release in, I think, 10 years) but if you like old-fashioned spacemusic, a la Stearns, Braheny and demby, he's your best bet, IMO. Probably is unbelievably cool listening on 'phones late at night while stargazing.

Undershadow

- Somnia Podcast 002. Subscribe to the Somnia podcast if you haven't done so already. Check out Evan's posts re: this podcast in the Non-Hypnos Artists section of the forum).

Hearing the White Rainbow track “Waves” off Somnia’s podcast led me to check back on the Prism Of Eternal Now (Kranky) album it was culled from. Initially I’d dismissed it as a hodgepodge of indie-post-kraut-shoegaze-kitchen sink experimental extravagance (‘tis by sometime Jackie-O-MoFo collaborator, Adam Forkner, so hardly surprising), but thanks to Somnia’s good podding works I find there are at least two tracks to be retrieved and cherished; two tracks that withhold the array of instrument-bashing in favour of long languorous SOTL-cum-Labradford ambient blissouts in that old Kranky spacerock(hold the rock)-drone tradition. The track “April 25th 11.14pm” sits next to “Waves” in this respect, and, listening to its the surrounding trakcs, it’s now apparent that the set throws the listener with its initial indie-gruzzier 4 tracks, the latter 5 making a satisfying homogeneous almost-whole. Since the album comes in at 71 mins overall, there’s actually a very good album in here if you go in at track 5

They're from Chile, play doom but use flute, organ, piano acoustic guitars (beautiful stuff here), a variety of vocal styles (growls, screams, black metal, clean, in native tongue and I think some english) but it's really REALLY cool stuff! Beautiful guitar work (classical/acoustic/spanish style). They have a fan page over at myspace where you can check out a couple tracks or so. A real jewel in the rough as first time I listened I didn't really pay a lot of attention, on a burn to CD it was a whole new thing! Floored me!.